The Greatest Moment of My LIFE

Its not so long ago that the greatest moment of my life would have been my wedding day (have a pic):

Not just because it was the day I got to marry my soulmate, but it really was a rip-roaring good wedding.

Then recently it got surpassed by the birth of Kecik:

You'll probably understand when I say I expected that to be it for a while. But no, that magical day has already been dethroned - by this:

Yup, this gorgeous green parrot just flew up out of nowhere, landed on my head and tried to peck my eyes out.

WE HAVE A WEINER!

I really don't know what to make of this bird. I was outside feeding my lorikeets, the day after Kecik came home from hospital, (AFTER I had helped Yvy make a start on the feeding - that was a touch-and-go conflict of priorities, let me tell you) and I looked up to see this fella hanging from the branches of the tree next to the balcony. Well, I have never seen anything like it in this area: other than the rainbow lorikeets, we have had a single pair of crimson rosellas drop by once. Otherwise, the lorikeets are very territorial and only the dominant pair and their kids get to eat: any others that show up get chased away. In my first rush of excitement at having these gorgeous wild animals hanging around me, I used to hand feed them to make sure everyone got something, but nowdays I don't encourage it. (I still enjoy it when it happens though :-)

So this big green bugger shows up, hanging just above my head. The lorikeets were all complaining about him. I lifted up a handful of apple to entice him down. First he jumped over onto the guttering above me, wandered back and forth weighing up his options, then he jumped down. But not onto my outstretched and apple-laden arm.

Onto my head.

Not that I am complaining. But even then, he (she?) wasn't interested in the apples, prefering to peck at my eyes.

Meh. They can always grow back.

Of course by now I was calling for Yvy to come snap a photo, which she did, new-born in arms. After than he jumped down onto the railing and I got him to eat something.

Bit hard to tell, but he's a lot bigger than the lorikeets (who by now were dancing up and down the railing themselves and screeching at him). Also a nasty little yellow-beaked thing swooped him (noisy mynahs, we call them) and even a kurrawong who hangs around came by to swoop him. No-one liked the poor fella, and not long after, he flew off. Alas.

Here are some shots from later in the day, when 8 lorikeets showed up at my mum's house. To make sure they all got something, I stood among these guys and fed some of them by hand (otherwise the dominant 2, who are regulars, would have chased the others off).

The origin of those 2 is interesting (can't remember if I have told this story): I was out the back one day replacing the patio light-globe for my elderly parents, and these two just flew onto the guttering above my head and hung over it (lorikeets eat as happily upside down as any other direction, due to the wobbly tree branches the spend their time clinging to) waiting for something to happen. So I sent ma inside to get an apple, broke it up and had them eating out of my hands seconds later. Since then, they have come to the kitchen window-sill and sat there looking in whenever they are hungry. My mother commits such atrocities as feeding them grain bread (a no-no, although they have the sense to eat the grains and leave the bread) or worse still, white bread with sugar on it (a crime) but I make sure they get something sensible when I am there. Also, we have lots of native plants around for them to feed off, which is what attracted them in the first place.

For anyone who is wondering, we feed ours powdered nectar (special stuff we buy), seeds (they are very fussy) and the apples. I have not found any other fruit they like. And least the apples and nectar don't attract pigeons like the seeds do.

Blog about Kecik to follow ;-)